Waters concentrated in the solutes present in the J-13 well were used to simulate the effects of boiling and evaporation in the vadose water surrounding waste packages in the proposed Yucca Mountain geologic nuclear waste storage site. The corrosion performance of AISI 1016 low carbon steel (LCS) in these solutions was evaluated by DC polarization techniques. LCS showed low general corrosion rates with no localized corrosion in deaerated 10X, 100X and 1000X J-13 waters at 25°C. Higher water temperature up to 90°C and 100X and 1000X concentrations favored protective silicate precipitate layers which further decreased corrosion rates and significantly increased apparent pitting potentials. Corrosion rate increased significantly in aerated 10X J-13 water at 25°C but had lesser effects in 100X and 1000X. Aeration and chloride additions also significantly degraded the protectiveness of the inhibitive precipitate
surface films. Addition of soluble Fes+ in aerated 10X and 100X J-13 waters, increased general corrosion at 25°C and 10X concentration and initiated pitting at higher concentrations and temperatures. Keywords: low carbon steel, vadose waters, polarization resistance, anodic polarization, pitting potential (Epit), protection potential (Eprot), chemically initiated pitting, silicates, surface precipitate